Blu-Ray launch date set for May 23rd in North America

Sony has announced that its Blu-Ray next-generation DVD format will launch in North America on May 23rd, giving a clear timeline for the first time for the arrival of the media format which will be used by the PlayStation 3.

Eight Blu-Ray titles will launch on that date from Sony's two major film studios, Sony Pictures and MGM, namely 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX.

A further set of titles will appear on June 13th - with Kung Fu Hustle, Legends of the Fall, Robocop, Stealth, Species, SWAT and Terminator joining the original launch titles on the shelves.

However, the initial choice available to consumers in terms of what to play their shiny new high definition movies on will be very limited - with only one player, Samsung's costly BD-P1000, set to ship for the May 23rd launch. Further players will appear from Sony and Pioneer shortly after launch.

Sony also today announced that it is to merge its optical drive business, of which the Blu-Ray drive business is a part, with NEC's optical drive business, forming a joint venture. While in some quarters this is being seen as a move designed to hedge the company's bets in case HD-DVD becomes the dominant standard - as NEC is a key supporter of HD-DVD - it's being interpreted elsewhere as a victory for Blu-Ray, since Sony will hold a 55% stake in the new venture and it will be headed up by a Sony executive.

In terms of software pricing, Sony plans to sell new Blu-Ray titles wholesale into retail at $23.95, with back catalogue titles being sold wholesale at $17.95 - which will probably translate as around $29.95 and $24.95 respectively on the price tags for consumers.

The big question, of course, is what this all means for the launch of the PlayStation 3, which will use a Blu-Ray drive and is expected to act as a "Trojan horse" to drive uptake of the format among consumers.

Several media outlets have recently reported on comments from an unnamed Sony source, who was cited on the BBC News website some weeks ago as saying that the console's launch could be delayed due to a hold-up in agreeing final specification details for Blu-Ray discs.

The fact that players and discs are now slated to appear in mid-May seems to suggest that these hurdles have now been overcome - although a launch for the PS3 in the planned Spring timeframe still looks highly unlikely given that no details of any such launch have yet been shared with consumers or with the retail channel.